The Wantagh wrestling program is looking for new blood to bring championship glory this winter after losing key talent from last year’s team that won a third straight county dual meet title and produced three individual county champions.
The Warriors graduated 18 seniors from the historic 2023/24 squad including county champions Joe Clem, Anthony Clem and Jesse Vanorden. Joe Clem also won a state title at 131 pounds and is now competing on the collegiate level with his twin brother Anthony at West Virginia University.
Fourteenth-year Wantagh coach Paul Gillespie will now be looking for new wrestlers to emerge who can deliver high podium finishes when the team competes on the county championship stage at Hofstra in February.
Among those with the potential of continuing Wantagh’s championship tradition is senior Shareef McMillan, who qualified for the New York State Championships last year at 170 pounds after placing second in the counties. McMillan is coming off a standout football season for the Warriors at defensive tackle where he recorded 20 tackles in Wantagh’s 48-21 Conference IV finals win against Plainedge.
Sophomore Andrew Perez, another big part of the Wantagh football team’s run to a Long Island title this past fall, will also be capable of winning a county title this winter after a strong freshman season on the mat. He recorded a big pin of Plainedge’s Jayden Camp in the 215 pounds finals of last year’s Nassau County Division I Dual Meet Championships as part of a 31-28 team title win over the Red Devils.
“I think you are going to see great things out of him,” Gillespie said of Perez. “He had a great football season.”
Gillespie said sophomore Jonathan Cuttrone also has the potential to earn a spot in the state championships. Cuttrone earned All-County status as a sophomore after defeating MacArthur’s Andrew Lichter 2-1 in the fifth place finals of the county championships.
Perez and Cuttrone are part of a large underclassmen precedence on the Wantagh roster this season with 39 freshman and sophomores.
Providing veteran leadership for a youthful team are captains Matt Merecka, Kyle Frey, McMillan and Perez.
“We’re young but I think by the end of the season we could get things revved up and see some good stuff,” Gillespie said.
To prepare for the big tournaments, Gillespie pieced together a challenging regular season dual meet schedule that includes competing in the prestigious Eastern States Classic in Clifton Park, N.Y. on Jan. 10 against the top teams in the state. The Nassau County Division I individual championships are slates for Feb 15-16 at Hofstra University’s Mack Sports Complex and Gillespie hopes to once again have a big Wantagh presence at the New York State Championships set for Feb. 28-March 1 at MVP Arena in Albany
“No matter how young they are, you have to have a tough schedule,” said Gillespie, who has produced six state champions at Wantagh since taking over the program in 2011 . “You have to make them tough.”